Home Renovating Recommendations

[Deviaant]

Maybe consider an engineered product? It installs like laminate, has a real wood face and often will maintain the warranty if installed below grade. However id be looking to spend in the $4-$5 range for a good engineered floor. Plenty of cheap ones out there but you do get what you pay for with a floor of any kind.

kahrs makes a good product as does from the forrest. Vantage does make a nice hardwood floor although a tad pricey.

Honestly id never put laminate into my house if I was not well educated in the subject. I find a lot of misinformation at the retail level (its sure not the retailers fault, there is a lot to know) about what makes a good laminate floor vs a bad one. Plus really you have to listen and trust what the salesperson says in regards to the technical stuff because really are you going to know what a Drop Lock or a g5 lock is let alone the pros and cons to each.

Just my $0.02 anyhow.


I should add when considering real hardwood or an engineered product you do have to be very concious of the humidity in your house. If you dont have a humidifier in your house and do not care to install one go with laminate no questions asked. Or install a humidifier / de humidifier during your renos and go with a hardwood product or engineered one.

[4X4]

I've seen lots of laminate floors that look pretty damn alright. You might not mistake them for hardwood, but you wouldn't necessarily dislike the look of them, either. I work for a builder and lots of our houses have laminate and lots of them have hardwood. I have to say that if I was building a house, considering that I have two dogs and a kid, I'd go laminate. It looks really good when done right, and it's quite a bit cheaper than hardwood. Bonus: it's softer on the foot.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I've seen lots of laminate floors that look pretty damn alright. You might not mistake them for hardwood, but you wouldn't necessarily dislike the look of them, either. I work for a builder and lots of our houses have laminate and lots of them have hardwood. I have to say that if I was building a house, considering that I have two dogs and a kid, I'd go laminate. It looks really good when done right, and it's quite a bit cheaper than hardwood. Bonus: it's softer on the foot.

Yeah we (I) went hardwood in the current house. With a dog and/or kids I would have definitely gone laminate. Some of the new laminates are phenomenal looking and extremely durable. The pup just killed my hardwood upstairs. And the laminate downstairs still looks like it did the day it was it installed, and almost as good looking.

[Ducay]

I had this same debate and went with hardwood. I'd caution against laminate if you're doing it yourself, especially if its the whole house (depends on if you do this for a living). I have seen a ton of bad laminate self-installs, and trust me, if it isn't installed perfectly, they you'll end up with a "bad laminate" looking house, people will be able to tell its bad, and you'll have a whole house full of the stuff. There is absolutely nothing more offputting to buyers than shoddy laminate. Why renovate the whole house only for it to look/feel cheap?

I now have a main floor of solid hardwood (installed myself), and carpet upstairs. Best of both worlds and price averaged across the house likely would be close to doing it all laminate.

That said, if you do go for a whole house of it and install it yourself; be a total perfectionist nazi. Make sure everything is proper and sitting on the subfloor/underlay exactly. Even if you have to redo a hundred cuts and end up wasting a box learning, do it, the cost of a few extra boxes of product will be a sound investment

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Ducay

That said, if you do go for a whole house of it and install it yourself; be a total perfectionist nazi. Make sure everything is proper and sitting on the subfloor/underlay exactly. Even if you have to redo a hundred cuts and end up wasting a box learning, do it, the cost of a few extra boxes of product will be a sound investment

Thanks for the advice. What makes a bad laminate install? Is it just when you can feel the unevenness underneath and it moves? I appreciate the tips. Has anyone put laminate in basement before? I know you can get that foam/vapor barrier stuff that looks shiny but that will give the floor movement. Can you use the same kind of stuff you would use for tile to provide a solid underlay instead of something that has give in it?

I should also add the house is not that big. It is a 1200 sq/ft bi-level so it would be less then 2000 sq ft install of laminate total

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Thanks for the advice. What makes a bad laminate install? Is it just when you can feel the unevenness underneath and it moves? I appreciate the tips. Has anyone put laminate in basement before? I know you can get that foam/vapor barrier stuff that looks shiny but that will give the floor movement. Can you use the same kind of stuff you would use for tile to provide a solid underlay instead of something that has give in it?

I should also add the house is not that big. It is a 1200 sq/ft bi-level so it would be less then 2000 sq ft install of laminate total

Bad laminate installs generally have that "feeling" you described. They're mooshey, uneven, and have a weak feeling to them. Some new builds I've been in have great laminate jobs, they *feel* heavy and sturdy, and not light and brittle to walk on. Hard to describe, but you shouldn't feel like you're walking on something thin and pliable. This is extra hard to achieve below grade where you often can nail flooring into the foundation. Research a ton in the install methods and underlays, there are billions of topics on this on flooring forums. Research how you're going to do the complex areas ahead of time (stairs, around things, joints with tile, etc).

Also be precise with your cuts and any joints; rookie cuts around corners/obstacles are another common mistake. This is where you should be a perfectionist. If a cut is going to be visible (ie not under baseboard), make sure its perfect. Redo a couple of times if need be to get it perfect; don't settle on "nobody will notice, screw it". A few of those small mistakes quickly add up to look like a bad install job.

Another tip is if you are getting someone to help out, don't let them rush you when you're trying to get things exact. I had my father help me out on my hardwood, and him not wanting to redo cuts a third time led to a couple cuts that I wish I could redo. They're likely not noticeable to others, but still.

[darklord700]

I'm thinking of putting either laminate or engineering hardwood in my basement. Any comment on these two types of flooring? I know wngineering hardwood is gonna be more expensive but I wanted to get a study feel in that room so that's why I'm willing to pay extra.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Bad laminate installs generally have that "feeling" you described. .....

Thanks man! Luckily I am taking most tricky things out of the equation. No stairs for me. I will start the basement researching! I totally agree with you on the new builds aspect. My buddies laminate job is great and it really sold me on the product again.

Also not sure if you checked out the sale pictures from my listing in Realtor 1's thread but the flagstone I picked up from you turned out really well and there is a good picture of it. Definitely helped out with the sale!

[ken0042]

One other product to look at is Tarkett; which is a higher end kind of laminate.
http://www.tarkett.com/

I used it in my basement bathroom and it looks great.

The other comment I have to add is to take the resale advice with a grain of salt. While resale value is always a consideration, you also have to look at your needs as you live in and enjoy your home. My parents took out the only bathtub in their house for a really cool shower; in large part due to my mom's mobility issues. That was 10 years ago, and they will likely be in that house for another 5-10 years at least. They will also be able to live in their house longer because of the way they re-designed the bathroom.

So unless you have "property ladder" plans, do what you want inside your own house.

[fundmark19]

Great point Ken. This is supposed to be our "forever home" that is why we are doing the upgrades we are doing to start with. I am sure my wife will change her mind some point down the road considering we were supposed to stay in our duplex for 10 years and sold after 3

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by ken0042

One other product to look at is Tarkett; which is a higher end kind of laminate.
http://www.tarkett.com/

I used it in my basement bathroom and it looks great.

Tarkett does look great at least in pictures.